Brothers and Sisters
by theladyknight
Summary: 'If I ever see Gatomon again, I could give her photographic evidence of some of her theories about teenagers. She could make them into presentations and be a traveling advice cat.If anyone would take a talking digital cat seriously.' S/Y, H/T hints.Pre02
1. Brothers and Sisters

Disclaimer: If I owned any of this, I'd be able to replace my laptop, which is literally almost in two pieces: monitor and keyboard. Too bad I don't own this. . .

A/N: Another one of my one-shot attempts to bridge the gap between 01 and 02 and look at potential ways that Yamato and Sora may have gotten closer. This is a bit different than normal with a different narrator. All fragments, run-ons, and words like "kinda" are intentional, too. Implied Sora/Yamato and some very minuscule Takeru/Hikari. Please enjoy!

Brothers and Sisters

By theladyknight

"Thank you so much, Sora. And on such short notice!"

"Don't worry about it Takaishi-san. It's not a problem at all. It's been ages since I've seen Takeru."

The topic of conversation grinned, showing his one missing tooth, something he was sure Sora would comment on when his mother finally decided to leave. He was glad Sora was here to watch him. This whole babysitter thing was definitely not cool—he was 9; he fought large digital monsters over 10 times his size; he could definitely watch himself for a few hours—but if he _had_ to have someone stay with him, Sora was right up there on the top of his list.

His mother laughed. "He's been talking about it nonstop since you agreed."

"MOM!" Takeru rolled his eyes. It was just like his mother to say things like that.

The two women laughed at his indignant outcry, causing the boy to put his hands on his hips in frustration. This only made the two chuckle harder. "Oh Takeru, honey, I'm only teasing you." She ruffled his hair with her hand, trying to not drop her purse in the process. "You do come highly recommended, though, Sora. Both Takeru and Yamato—the last time I saw him—had good things to say about you. In fact it was Yamato who suggested that I call you if I ever needed a babysitter."

Again with that word? Takeru winced in disgust. _I'm not a baby!_ He glanced up at his mother and could see some regret on her face. Yamato had come a long way with her, but it still wasn't enough in her mind. He now made it a point to stop by, usually once a month, for supper or whenever she needed someone to watch Takeru. However, their mother had hoped to see him a lot more, something Takeru knew his brother still wasn't all that comfortable with.

"I was surprised when you called me, to tell you the truth." Sora nodded her head in quiet understanding. "I had expected you'd ask Yamato to do this."

Takaishi Natsuko smiled at the younger girl. "He's helping his father at the station today. There's a live band performing on the show, and they needed some help moving sound equipment and getting things set up." She turned to look at the clock. "Goodness! I'm going to be late if I don't head out."

"K, Mom," he replied, leaning over because he knew that she wanted to kiss him on the cheek. _Mothers. . ._

"Be good now, Takeru. Sora, thank you again. I should only be gone for three, maybe four hours, and I'll drive you back to your place when I'm done. What else? Hmmm… you don't need to worry about supper, but if you two get hungry, there are some crackers in the cabinet. Takeru knows where they are."

Sora smiled at the woman, holding the door open for her and offering her the umbrella that, Takeru snickered to himself, was for once where it was supposed to be in the umbrella rack by the door. "It looks a little dark outside, almost like it's going to rain."

"Thank you," his mother graciously replied as she hurried out the door. "Bye kids! Have fun!"

They both waved as the woman sprinted out the door. Takeru had no doubt she'd be late or forget something important that she was supposed to bring; it happened way too much. But as usual, there was nothing he could do about it.

Now was about having fun. As much as he internally grumbled and complained about having to have a babysitter—he was SO not a baby—it was nice to have someone else close to his age to play with. Being by himself was fine, but it got rather boring pretty quickly.

Sora led him into the living room area. "So, Takeru…looks like you have some news for me?"

He gave her a funny look. What could she possibly be talking about? It took a moment, along with a not so subtle point to his mouth, for him to realize it. He grinned as brightly as he could. "I lost another tooth!"

"Didn't you just lose one the last time I saw you?" Sora asked, only to laugh when Takeru nodded proudly. She pretended to wipe a tear. "You're growing up so fast Takeru!"

He giggled, sitting across from her on the floor. "Sora, I'm nine! Of course I'm growing!"

It felt nice to talk to someone different for a change. And it'd be so much fun to play some other games. There were only so many things you could do or play by yourself. _Maybe this whole "babysitter" thing wasn't as bad as the name implied._

"So what do you want to do today?" Sora asked, as if reading his mind.

"Dunno." He looked pensive for a minute. Ok…that was a lie. He knew perfectly well what he wanted to do, but he had a feeling she wouldn't want to play. "Well…I mean…if it's not that big of a deal to you…I kinda wanna play," he pulled out a deck of cards, "war."

She stared at him. _Yup. She knew that was coming.. _"Takeru, we ALWAYS play war, and you always beat me. Every single time. Every single game. Ever."

"There's always a first time for you to win." He smiled brightly at her. Sure, he could play war by himself. It was possible. It was just terribly boring. Sora always made the game interesting because, for some unbeknownst reason, she was terrible at it. Absolutely positively dreadful. But that was always good for some laughs between the two of them.

Sora grumbled good-naturedly. "Fine…but loser gets to choose the next game…"

* * *

The fact that it was now downpouring, evidenced by the splatters of rain dancing on the windows, ruined Sora's initial suggestion of going outside. Those were the first words out of her lips upon Takeru besting her in war, for the fifth straight game in a row, in a new record of 3 minutes, 22 seconds. However, the plans immediately got scrapped when she realized it was probably a little too wet for them to head outside, especially considering it looked like an even bigger storm was brewing.

They settled, instead, for playing some of their favorite board games. Takeru wasn't so lucky here. Sora was much better at the many games stored in his toy box, so he conceded the fact—out loud—to her that she apparently wasn't terrible at all games.

"What next?" Takeru eagerly asked, ready to forget about his two straight losses in Chutes and Ladders. It was so easy to have fun and lose track of time with Sora. She was like the sister he never had. "We could go back to wa…"

"…or not." Sora smirked right back at him. "How 'bout we. . ."

A well placed boom of thunder cut her off. They both crept over to the window. The sky was turning much darker and the rain started to beat down even louder, sounding as if there were a band outside serenading them.

Takeru bit his lip. Storms…he wasn't such a big fan of. He regrettably listed off another reason in his head why he wasn't so ticked off about having to have a babysitter. His mom would leave him by himself from time to time but she always made sure that, whenever there was bad weather predicted—though when were those weather people ever right?—he was always with someone else.

The lights began to flicker, and he exchanged a look with Sora. "We better find some candles," she suggested, "just in case."

He led the way over to the cabinet where his mom kept the candles. Sora began pulling them out, only to drop them as a loud buzz rang out. "What was. . ."

"Hey? Mom? Takeru? Anyone up there?"

Takeru bounced on his heals. "It's Yamato! Wonder what he's doin' here." He walked over and pressed the intercom button. "Hi! Sora and I are up here. What are you doing downstairs?"

He could hear the sigh of relief in Yamato's voice when he responded. "Can I come up? The storm's getting worse outside."

Not even waiting for Sora's approval—really, why would she tell Yamato no?—Takeru encouraged his brother to join them up in his apartment. He smiled to himself. He and Yamato had seen a lot more of each other since their Digital World adventure, but try as they may, the entire group didn't get together as much as they said they would. From time to time, they'd meet up, usually in smaller groups, but that wouldn't happen for awhile.

Now, it was like their own mini-reunion.

Sora, in the meantime, successfully managed to pull out five candles, setting them and the matches on the kitchen table. Just in case, Takeru reassured himself. He particularly was not fond of rainstorms that knocked the power out; however, he felt more comfortable than normal knowing that both Yamato and Sora were here in case anything happened. _My brother and my pretty-much sister._ _This is gonna be fun!_

As soon as he heard the knock on the door, he sprinted over to let his older brother in. "Yamato!"

"Hey, Takeru. Sora." Yamato cheerfully responded. Takeru found that a bit funny considering how Yamato was dripping wet. If he were the one who'd apparently been caught out in the rain, he would most definitely not be cheerful.

"Yamato," Sora smiled brightly at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I finished early at the tv station so I decided to head home, but the rain beat me too it. I was halfway between here and the station when it really started raining, so I figured I may as well try getting here. You guys are a lot more fun then the people Dad works with."

"Understandable."

"I'm just happy you're here with us now!" Yamato smiled at his little brother, ruffling his hair as he walked by. Takeru suddenly glared. "Don't get me wet."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Takeru," Yamato smirked. Takeru gulped, understanding that his brother had considered that. "But in the interest of not getting killed by Sora, I'll let you off this time."

Sora rolled her eyes. "Or you'll end up back outside in the rain.

Yamato's smirk got even bigger as he headed into Takeru's room, presumably to change. "You wouldn't do that to me." It wasn't so much of a threat or plea as it was a statement of truth. Takeru glanced over at the girl who was trying and not doing a very good job of hiding her smile.

Nope, she'd never do that to his brother. Takeru was positive. He always loved being around these two most. The others were all fun and he loved to see them and hang out with them, especially Hikari—he fought some unknown, confusing force that was making his cheeks all warm—but being with these two always just seemed…what was the right word…right, maybe?

He obviously was close to his brother; well, maybe it was better to say that NOW he was close to his brother, the whole digital world thing mending their flimsy relationship. And Sora had always been the one who was there for him when the others just looked at him as a little kid. And since then, she seemed closer to a big sister than a friend. They were the two he was closest to, but he always got the sense that they were somehow really close friends, even if it never really appeared that way at first glance.

They never appeared to get into arguments, from what Takeru could see, and even in the rare instance where they did disagree, they at least attempted to verbally spar with each other until a solution or compromise was hashed out. And they really seemed to just get each other. It was weird watching them sometimes. Whenever they were together, it seemed liked they could talk for hours without any of those awkward pauses or moments when the river of conversation ran dry. There seemed to be a different vibe with them too, not the whole brother-sister thing he knew he and Sora had. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, though.

Maybe it was a teenage thing. He shrugged to himself. He'd find out eventually on his own, or he could always ask Hikari. Gatomon left her with all sorts of "wisdom," as she called it, regarding teenage humans and their many odd quirks.

He shuddered to himself. If being a teenager came with all those strange things, though, maybe he should see if he could stay nine his entire life. But only if Hikari could too.

Yamato returned, dressed in clothes he had left here for days when he did stay over, just as the power finally lost the battle to stay on. "Boy Yamato, you sure got here at the right time!"

"Looks that way."

"Well, it's a good thing we got the candles out just in case." Takeru searched for Sora in the room and found her a second later, glowing behind the light of a candle.

"To say the least." Yamato helped Sora shift candles from the kitchen table to the living room. "So what were you two up to before I interrupted you?"

Sora smiled at him. "We were on—what would you say, Takeru—our tenth straight board game?"

Yamato rolled his eyes. "Go figure. Don't you ever get bored of those games, little brother?"

"Why?" Takeru scoffed. "It's not my fault they're fun. Wanna play war, Yama?"

"No more war!" Sora cut in before Yamato even had the opportunity to react. Takeru smirked as he saw his brother shoot the girl a grateful smile. Yamato was even worse at Sora at war. He suppressed a giggle. _If the two of them ever played, it'd probably be the longest game ever!_

"Well what should we do then?" Takeru looked around. "What can we do with no power?"

Yamato caught his glance. His brother seemed to be thinking about something. "Ghost stories?"

"NO!" Takeru exclaimed.

Sora and Yamato laughed. "You sure, Takeru?"

"I…I just don't want Sora to be scared."

Sora and Yamato exchanged an amused glance. "That's sweet," she answered, nudging the older blond as he let out a snicker.

"You're a ladies man already, Takeru. Hikari doesn't know what's waiting for her. . ."

_Stupid brother_. Takeru put his face down, hoping to hide the incessant redness and praying that the darkness was covering everything. "So, about what we were going to do. . ."

Sora was his redemption. She sat down on the floor, patting the ground on either side of her. Both boys sat down, wondering what she had planned. "I think we _can_ tell a story."

Takeru gulped. With the power out, a ghost story was the last thing he wanted. "A ghost story?"

"Not necessarily," she replied. "Here's what we'll do. I'll start. Once upon a time, there was a Patamon who lived in Primary Village." She paused and looked around. "Ok, now one of you needs to come up with the next part of the story. We'll go one by one with each person adding onto the story. You can say whatever comes to you or whatever you can think of. Anything goes."

Takeru's realized his incredulous look matched that of his brother. "Uh…no offense Sora, but that doesn't seem very entertaining."

Sora smiled at Yamato. "Just give it a try, guys. Trust me. I think this'll turn out better than you expect. You're up first, Yamato. . ."

* * *

::2 hours later::

"No way!!" Sora and Yamato had both collapsed against each other, laughter completely taking them over. Yamato was the first to recover, and Takeru folded his arms as his brother continued to chuckle. "Takeru, how?"

"It'd be possible," he firmly defended, glaring at both of them.

Sora finally contained her laughter as well. "How, though? There's no way that Patamon could take on a Gazimon on his own."

"But he's got super powers! Remember, he got bit by a spider and then warped into SuperPatamon who has the ability to digivolve into WarriorAngemon and then SuperWarriorAngemon." The two older kids looked at each other again before dissolving into laughter again. "You said anything goes!"

Yamato playfully nudged Sora. "You did say that, Sor. So…I'm fully blaming you for the fact that a mutated Patamon suddenly emerged, saved Primary Village, fell in love with his childhood friend Gatomon, who was engaged to a Gazimon but didn't want to marry him, had to complete in a series of tests by the old guardian Gennai to be declared a warrior, and then finally knocked off the Gazimon with a simple boom bubble. Did I get that all right?"

She smiled sheepishly, face turning an attractive shade of pink. "You're the one who mutated Patamon!"

"Anything goes," he teased, grinning back at her. Takeru noticed that Yamato's smile seemed to grow wider as Sora's blush grew, almost like he was trying to get her to blush.

Takeru smirked. Yamato was always pretty uptight and seeing him relax like this was really entertaining to his little brother. Especially the way he was acting around Sora. Takeru may have only been nine, but he was a smart nine year old (thank you very much!). He might not know all these teenage secrets that Gatomon did, but from what he'd heard—from tv and Mimi rambling on about it in the Digital World—it seemed like his brother and Sora maybe kinda liked each other._ That would explain why they don't seem like brother and sister._

"Kids! I'm home." He heard his mother yell from the front door. "Who…Yamato! What are you doing here?"

His brother stood up, offering his hand to Sora in the process. Takeru shook his head, trying to clear it of his last thoughts. He was only nine after all. A mature nine year old, but really, why should he be worrying about all this at nine years old? It didn't even concern him, though truth be told, it'd be way cool if Sora really would be his sister eventually.

He laughed to himself, hurrying over to wear the other three were discussing the rain storm and power outage. This love thing was way over his head, and so something he didn't want to talk about. Girls had cooties, right?

Still, Takeru couldn't help but think his brother and Sora definitely had some potential for the future. He suddenly made a face, realizing he was starting to sound WAY too much like Mimi. _Wow…I need something more "manly" to take my mind of this. I wonder if anyone will play me in war. . ._

Fin

A/N: Meh. Having never been a nine year old boy, I had to go at Takeru's personality the way I envisioned it. Somewhat mature. Somewhat childish. Somewhat scared. Somewhat proud. I hope it turned out fine. I just wanted an alternate perspective on Sora/Yamato, and who better than Takeru, who I think would definitely approve of the relationship. I hope you all enjoyed though. Reviews make me happy and forget about my computer!


	2. Photographic Evidence

**Disclaimer.** Not. Mine.  
**Note.** Sequel. One year later. New narrator. Enjoy. Thanks for all the reviews, friends!  
**Warnings.** Canon-shoutouts galore. Pre-02. Slight and .  
**Dedication:** Those who asked for a sequel **cali-chan** and **nodirection**. And **Inconnu**: I'm working on that email to you. That's been sitting in my inbox. Since September. *sobs*

Chapter 2 Photographic Evidence

Sports really weren't her thing.

At all.

Don't get her wrong. She loved dancing and swimming and the occasional peaceful jog; staying active was usually pretty fun. But organized sports had never appealed to her. Which was a shame due to her brother's intense love of them, particularly football. And the very reason she found herself sitting on the bleachers, parents a few rows down and across from her, observing her big brother's most recent match.

She supposed it wasn't _that_ bad. She loved her big brother. She was happy when he was happy, and he was most decisively happy when on the football pitch. Watching the game could be kind of fun, especially when Taichi's team was winning, and she had fun cheering along with the others supporting his team.

Plus, it was a chance to take pictures with her brand new digital camera.

And she loved taking pictures.

_Click!_

"Hey!"

"Oops…say cheese?"

"Too late for that."

She smiled apologetically at her friend. He huffed, feigning anger, but she knew as well as he did that it was all pretend. Takaishi Takeru stuck his tongue out at her, and she responded with a similar face. Gone was the crybaby (_the brave crybaby_, not that she'd admit either description to his face!) of the digital world. Two years later, Takeru was as cheerful as ever but had certainly grown up a lot from his eight year old self. He was a little more mature than most ten year olds she knew, particularly her lively friend Motomiya Daisuke, but still the same old Takeru she knew and…appreciated since she'd met him.

"It was a good picture, if it makes you feel better."

"Loads," he grumbled, turning to face the game that she knew, quite honestly, wasn't really entertaining him. He always was more of a basketball fan, especially since he grew taller.

Yagami Hikari turned her attention back to the game. She adjusted the settings on her camera as she zoomed in to snap a picture of her brother, hair flying behind him as he trapped a ball near midfield and dribbled it up the sideline. Glancing down at the picture, she sighed; if only she could get him to stay in one place. Her picture taking would go much better. She'd have to keep working on that.

Practice does make perfect.

_Click!_

"Hikari, how many pictures of me are you going to take?"

"I never get to see you, Takeru, so I need some pictures to remember what you look like."

It had been a long time since she'd last seen him, come to think of it. With Takeru and his mother living outside of Odaiba, get-togethers didn't happen with much frequency. The former digidestined tried, particularly in light of the whole 'forced get together to surrender their crests to save the digital world again thing', but it was a bit difficult with the various residences and increasingly busy schedules.

She was happy when her brother mentioned he'd invited Sora and Yamato to come to his game, knowing there was a good chance Takeru would accompany them. The two brothers had certainly come a long way since leaving the digital world, and she was happy (and knew Takeru was happy too) that Yamato spent increasing time with his younger brother. And his mother, though he never really came out and said that.

Yagami Hikari, however, was a perceptive ten year old girl (you have to have a good eye to be a good photographer, after all). This was one of the many things she observed but found better not to mention. Plus, what was that saying…a picture is worth one thousand words? Yes, pictures of the two brothers together—_whether or not they're willing subjects—_definitely helped with her observations.

"Still…you can take a picture of someone else," Takeru whined half-heartedly, crossing his arms. "There. Yamato's on his way back from the concession stand. Take a picture of him."

"How'd he end up agreeing to go to the concession stand for you, anyway?" she asked, camera poised to take a picture of the approaching blond.

Takeru offered an evil smirk, flipping a silver coin in the air. "Coin toss. Double sided coin. My luck has increased tons since I found this in a store!"

Hikari gaped at her friend in surprise—_that's perfect! I should use one on Taichi when he tries to make me do the dishes—_distracted only at the sound of nearby laughter. The pleased look on Takeru's face quickly melted away, and Hikari had to stop herself from giggling at the expression of horror that crept upon it.

"And here we thought you were the innocent one, Takeru. Looks like Puppetmon did teach you a thing or two when he _invited_ you to play games with him."

Takenouchi Sora moved to sit behind the two younger children, fixing them both with a sunny smile. "Um…I…you see." Takeru had managed to gain a bit more confidence and boldness over the past two years, but if there was one person he consistently had a hard time attempting to evade (other than herself, Hikari thought proudly) it was Sora. But that was a trait the younger girl had quietly observed among all three of the digidestined boys who were here at today's football match.

Sora laughed again. "Don't worry. I won't tell your brother. It's kinda funny he hasn't figured it out."

Takeru grinned guiltily, taking a deep breath upon realizing he wasn't going to be ratted out this time, "I have two double-sided coins: one has 'heads' on both sides, the other 'tails'. I switch them anytime I think he's getting suspicious."

"Remind me never to agree to a coin toss with you," Hikari heard herself mumble dryly, deciding now was a good time to capture a picture of Yamato, being that she knew _why _he was coming back from the concession stand. With hands full. Attempting not to drop anything. Oh yes, she _had_ to take a picture.

_Click!_

She giggled. Probably best not to show Yamato that picture.

"Were you taking a picture of me?"

Uh oh.

She smiled at the older boy as he climbed onto the bleachers, taking a seat next to Sora as he handed out the appropriate snacks. "Maybe?"

He rolled his eyes. "It was probably this one," insert a point to his brother, "who suggested it."

"Guilty," the younger boy admitted, taking a bite of his treat. "Thanks for the snacks, Yamato. Very nice of you to buy them for us all."

"Only because I lost the coin toss, Takeru." The three who knew why this occurred burst into laughter again. Yamato gave them a funny look before accepting his fate of not knowing, probably for the best Hikari thought, and taking a bite of pocky.

"Well," Sora said as she munched on her candy bar, "you did a good job, if it's worth any consolation. Can't believe you remembered this is my favorite candy! Anything would've been fine, though."

He smirked at her, though Hikari noticed—_is he blushing?—_some pink creeping up along Yamato's neck. "If you wouldn't talk about it anytime Taichi brings up snack food…_which is anytime he's hungry_. . ."

_Quite often then_, Hikari held in a giggle.

"…I probably wouldn't have remembered," he finished off, "But shouldn't you jocks be more mindful of this stuff? After all, you probably don't want it affecting your…jockness?"

If there was one person who disliked sports more than her, it was Yamato. It had been their bonding point, Hikari had found, from the times Yamato had been dragged along to games with her. He really wasn't _that_ bad at any of the sports Taichi and Takeru had forced them to play. Nowhere near their caliber, or Sora's, but still commendable. He, like the younger girl, was more into the arts, though it was music for him while she found comfort in photography.

It was funny, really, how close she now found herself to both of the blond boys currently in her company. Granted, she was much better friends with Takeru than his older brother. It happened slowly at first—and after a bit of a rough start, what with kidnapping and evil, megalomaniac vampire digital monsters after them, though she chose to overlook that incident—usually when they were at these dreadfully boring (don't tell her brother!) football matches. He didn't come with the greatest frequency, but when his schedule allowed for it, or Takeru forced him to join him, Yamato would join along.

Yamato had always come off as a bit of a loner, fitting in but not really comfortable being around people. Knowing the complex Ishida-Takaishi history, she supposed it wasn't really that surprising, but it still struck Hikari a bit odd that people brushed him off as standoffish and disagreeable. He'd honestly been nothing but nice to her in the entire time she'd known him, and she always found his company entertaining. There was never a dull moment when Yamato was around, normally due to Taichi or Takeru being around too; yet, she found him intriguing to talk to, especially about subjects the others avoided, and personally thought he could give Gatomon a run for knowledge on the human species—in a non-scientific way, of course, because clearly Koushirou or Jyou would win that contest.

And it was thoroughly amusing when she found herself in the company of Yamato, Takeru, and Sora at the same time, which when she stopped to think about it, was happening a lot more frequently. It felt natural, normal almost. She was at first afraid it might be a bit awkward, being that she was on very good terms with Sora and Takeru but not Yamato. But that never happened; both Takeru and Sora had unintentionally assured that.

If there was a friendship that surprised her more than her own with Yamato, it was Yamato's friendship with Sora. She supposed it wasn't too out of the ordinary, the whole digiworld adventure uniting them and them sharing the same homeroom now and being an attentive audience for Taichi's football matches. She seemed to see them together all the time, usually quietly conversing or sitting in comfortable silence as they worked on homework together whenever she ran into them. But the more Hikari considered it, their attuned behavior towards one another and their level-headed calmness (with some obvious exceptions) yet willingness to call the other out if they disagreed on some matter dated back to the time in the digiworld.

The two of them had been the best among the digidestined at staying in touch and becoming closer since their time ended. Unintentionally, probably due to being in the exact same homeroom, but Hikari was certain the two of them were closer than most people, with maybe the exception of Takeru, knew. Even her brother was oblivious to it. She, however, was not. Thanks to Gatomon. Her digimon _had _told her all about signs of boys and girls growing up and starting to see each other differently. _I'm just not going to mention that talk to Taichi. He might try to break into the digital world to lecture Gatomon about teaching me things!_

Looking back toward the game, Hikari began mentally looking over photos from past events and softly smiled as she realized the three people currently in her company were in her pictures the most—not to mention the times she snuck into the pictures when Takeru stole her camera. Probably due to football matches, but also due to their tendency to gravitate together when everyone got together.

It's not like they ignored the others or anything; it just usually happened that after a few hours together, they would all naturally clump back together. They were a little more reserved than the others in the group, though not shy or overly quiet like Koushirou or Jyou, but rather content with observing instead of talking all the time, waiting instead to jump in when they were needed as opposed to forcing themselves into conversation or action. They were a bit more guarded than the others, maybe that was it, more in tune with their time in the digital world and feeling the loss of connectivity and friendships that, while bearable, were also hard to grasp.

But it was never gloomy around the three of them. It was always cheerful and optimistic and friendly and hopeful and seemed like a manifestation of their respective crests engulfed the entire group, though she knew that to be impossible thanks to recent events. It just felt...right...maybe it was as simple as that.

_Click!_

"And you should title this one self portrait. Or space cadet. We've been calling your name for awhile."

She snapped back, ignoring the snickers around her as she grabbed the camera from Takeru, clicking the review button to see a _flattering_ picture of herself lost in thought. "Thank goodness for a delete button."

"I thought it was a good picture," Takeru shrugged, resting his hands behind his head as he turned back to the conversation with the other two and conveniently missed the rosy red hue that was forming—_stop it! —_on her cheeks. "Why aren't you out there, though, Sora? You're way better than most of the guys out there."

"Didn't want to play 'one of these things is not like the other,'" the girl sarcastically mumbled.

Takeru fixed her with an intrigued look, and Hikari too was slightly baffled by Sora's tone. And her statement. Yamato, though, seemed to understand. "Notice how it's all guys out there?"

"You've always played with the guys before, Sora. Why should this be any different?"

"Not everyone is so keen on having a girl on the guys' squad, Hikari." Sora shook her auburn hair out of her eyes. "It didn't matter so much when I was younger. Co-ed teams at a younger age aren't always viewed the way they are when you're older. The last team I was on…the coach was particularly upset I played a bit better than his son. . ."

"…much better is what she really means."

Sora glared at Yamato. "_A bit _better than his son and didn't play me much. Complaints didn't do much. I tried, but it seemed to make them complain more. And look for ways to get rid of you." Seeing their confused looks, she quickly added, "Injuries are a good start."

"Wait a minute. Did one of them injure you?" Takeru asked, with Yamato angrily echoing a similar question.

Sora waved her hands back and forth. "No! No! No! Nothing like that. It just seemed like they were really pushing for any minor injury to be blown out of proportion. Mind you, of course I come down with a real injury—a dislocated knee cap and sprained knee—just then, so it kind of sat well for their case."

"So you're done? Moving on?"

Sora glanced at Yamato. "There's a part of me that will always love football. And maybe I'll take it up when we get into high school, play on the all-girls team. I have some friends there, and I'm sure it'll be fun again. But at this point, it's just lost its excitement. And truthfully, that last injury with some lingering sore ankles doesn't help. My mother was very much against me finishing out the last few matches."

Hikari nodded, knowing Sora well enough to be sure the older girl had considered all her options very well. And, from what Yamato had casually mentioned in a past conversation, Sora was much more likely to take her mother's opinion into account, understanding her logic, than two years ago. She picked up her camera again, focusing it on the older girl, and wanting to lighten the somewhat dampened atmosphere. "Well, if nothing else, you can always take up a new hobby! Something else that excites you."

_Click!_

"You could be a model for Hikari's crazy picture taking."

_Click!_

"Stop taking pictures of me!" Takeru crossed his arms again.

"I think I'll pass on the model. I am thinking about giving tennis a go."

"Tennis?" three voices echoed.

Sora laughed. "Yes, tennis. My mother played when she was younger and offered to teach me. And I made friends with a girl who just moved here from the States. Gwen. She grew up playing tennis and is looking for a partner." Sora giggled suddenly. "It'll at least give me a chance to take out some frustration!"

Hikari slowly moved the camera up as Yamato studied the girl next to him. _Yamato makes the best facial expressions._ _This will make a great real-life shot._

"Well," he began, "if nothing else, tennis outfits are much nicer to look at than football kits!"

_Click!_

Hikari giggled as she studied the picture. A re- cheeked, gasping Sora and laughing Yamato reflected back at her. _I guess Sora makes some nice facial expressions too_.

Takeru leaned over her shoulder to look at the picture, smirking at the two older teens. "This one's a keeper."

Doing her best to avoid Sora's arm attempting to reach for the camera and delete said picture, Hikari smiled to herself, enjoying the sunshine and peace all around her. The idea to start a photo album of her friends and their adventures had been in her head for awhile. _Today will give me lots more pictures._ Glancing back down at the last photograph she had taken, she couldn't help but think to all the "talks" about humans that Gatomon had given her in the past.

_If I ever see Gatomon again, I could give her photographic evidence of some of her theories about teenagers. She could make them into presentations and be a traveling advice cat. _Hikari giggled again. _If anyone would take a talking digital cat seriously, that is!_

She turned back to the game, content to enjoy the rest of the day with her friends and brother. As Taichi ran by once again, this time charging for the goal, she made one last attempt for the perfect picture.

_Click!_

**FIN **

*Looks sheepishly at fandom* Ummm…hi? Remember me?

There were some calls for a sequel to this once upon a time. So I did my best. It took a mind of its own one year ago. Then changed multiple, multiple times (and narrators) in the past few months. I hope I pulled Hikari off. Easier than Takeru, but it's been quite some time since I was a ten year old girl…..

Anyway—it's nice to do some creative writing instead of schoolwork for once.

…speaking of which…

Why yes, in case you've noticed, I've been a bit…preoccupied?...for the last two years. Academia has been calling; come September, I'll have a Bachelors and a Masters degree—not bad for 5 years of study, if I do say so!—and hoping someone hires me. Did I mention I moved countries? And continents? Yeah…so I apologize for any garbled English. I'm having a dreadful time keeping my American and British spellings straight these days. And football = soccer.

I'm sorry for being a pathetic authoress. I shall do my best to right that wrong.

Reviews = love.

30 July 2011


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